Thanks for the comment.

A belly band is a great option for some in a non-permissive enviornment. The UC belt however is not ideal for the type of activity you will see in the average work enviornment. If you have to tuck your shirt in; which is the case for most work environments this will not be a suitable option for you.

Thanks Steve,

I hear what you are saying, but the reality is there is no normal position to test. Any position will be a representation of the position only. While your normal activity may have your hands at your side it is far more likely in the lead up to a confrontation your hands will start to move to the high line. If your hands don’t move to the high line it may mean you are surprised by the attack and your hand position is irrelevant or you don’t appreciate the importance behind protecting the head in an unknown encounter through the use of non-violent postures.

I hear you Craig, nothing is free. There will always be challenges with every option out there. It gives you a bigger picture to consider and there are ways to “conceal” the ankle holster. Good luck and thanks for stopping by.

Craig-how about a belly band type? I’m looking at the Unity Clutch belt although I haven’t handled one. I have used belly bands and although not as fast as appendix or IWB, it’s faster than ankle. BTW, interesting work Jeff.

I’d agree that hands on your head would be in the spectrum of worse case (handcuffed, behind your back, probably being THE worst case). 🙂
Re: “average normal”, given that we spend the vast majority of our time with our hands within the midsection of our torso, a similar test with the starting position within that realm would be another interesting data point for comparison.
I appreciate the test and the post, and the nudge to test and learn ourselves. Good stuff!

Thanks… that Vid will make me reconsider the (true) ankle holster. I still think I’ll have a challenge when I sit, cross my legs, whatever… but watching your Vid helps me look for a better working solution than the BugBite (neoprene) Calf Holster 2.0. It works, and conceals very well… which OF COURSE means it’s hard to get to. I’ll see what I can do about investigating a more traditional AnkleHolster!

Howdy Steve,

Something to consider is hand positioning, often touted as the reason it is faster. First, can anyone define or describe an “average” or “natural” position. Then, since not two encounters are the same it is far more likely hand positioning will be random. Since we cannot test for random, having the hands on the head is an excellent way to bring about an even playing field. To give perspective that many do not want to consider due to their own bias.

What this study proved was the belief one is faster than the other is largely dependent on establishing predefined conditions. Since you cannot predict with any sense of accuracy hand positioning it makes more sense to start from a position once could consider worse case.

The reason I posted the study was to help establish a better understanding of what works for individuals rather than what some talking head says. To give folks the opportunity to test for themselves and make up their on minds.

Don’t take my word for it, I just another one of those talking heads I mentioned.

Thanks for posting, I appreciate your view point.

Howdy Craig,

I agree with you regarding the concealment benefit. For many people, it is a great advantage.

I sympathize with your work uniform. Many are challenged with policy imposed upon them from command. I feel your pain. I will assume since you are carrying, you are in a permissive enviornment. If you find the interest, you might want to check out this video on ankle holsters. I don’t know why wearing boots would be a requirement for an ankle holster. I have never worn my ankle holster with boots so my experience might be helpful.

Here is the video;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZESxIP4PC2I&t=1s

Also, in the video I’m using a Glock 26 blue gun and have carried it live countless times. I love that little blaster.

Good luck

I can’t agree w/ you totally there Jeff. While I commend your testing fastidiousness…based on the lack of concealment, and the hands at the head start-positioning, this is just another data point. What you illustrated is that there’s not a speed advantage drawing from an unconcealed condition, with your hands starting from your head.
To be meaningful to the average concealed carrier, I’d love love to see your results under concealment and with with a more natural hand position than on your head. Heck, even if you ran it from an unconcealed condition, the hands should be coming from an average natural position, because that’s where the speed advantage comes from.